Coutts likely to get on board to help Oracle

He may have moved to a front office role but expect Russell Coutts to play an integral part in Oracle’s bid to save the America’s Cup, according to former team executive and America’s Cup expert Tom Ehman.

After falling 3-0 behind Team New Zealand in the battle for the Auld Mug, Oracle have five days to dig themselves out of their hole before racing resumes on Sunday.

Ehman, a former director of external affairs for Oracle and 35-year veteran of the America’s Cup, does not believe the defenders will ultimately catch the Kiwis. However, with a genius like Coutts at their disposal, they cannot be counted out.

While the five-time America’s Cup winner stepped away from the sailing operations to take up a commercial role with Oracle and head up the America’s Cup Events Authority, that will not stop him from personally overseeing their recovery mission.

‘‘Russell is still one of, if not the smartest person in the sport. Russell will be heavily involved because his boss Larry Ellison will insist that he become re-involved in the team,’’ Ehman told Radio Sport.

‘‘I saw it happen last time when I was involved in helping to run the event. At that point, Russell reinvolved himself again intensively and he will do that over the next five days.

‘‘This is what he is best at. Until somebody beats him, he is still the best team leader in the business. He will have re-engaged himself not just at Larry’s insistence but of his own volition and he will be heavily involved in trying to get Oracle back on a winning pace.’’

During Monday’s post-race press conference, Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill stated on several occasions that Oracle had been in this situation before, referring to the 2013 Cup when they recovered from 8-1 against New Zealand to retain the Auld Mug.

But even taking into account such a lengthy break during the middle of an America’s Cup match, the move to the one-design AC50 class, which prevents modifications to the basic hull shape, wing profile and weight, among other elements, limits their options to make changes.

Richard Gladwell, the New Zealand editor of Sail-World, pointed out that Oracle’s eureka moment of 2013 came with their ability to foil upwind, which Team NZ had no answer to.

‘‘There is no silver bullet to be had in the 2017 America’s Cup - the AC50s foil upwind and down,’’ Gladwell said. ‘‘Foiling gybes and tacks are the norm.’’

Gladwell said that any improvements Oracle make will come from some probing analysis rather than a single big change.

‘‘That is what happened in the tail-end of the 2013 America’s Cup where Oracle Team USA’s coaches came up with a counter to Dean Barker’s game plan at the starts with the Kiwis either being bested at the start or copping an umpire imposed penalty for their shortcomings,’’ he added.

Also on Sail-World, seven-time America’s Cup veteran Paul Cayard said there was no doubt Oracle, backed by businessman Larry Ellison who has an estimated fortune of US$55 billion, had the financial and human resources to make gains.

But he questioned whether they had enough time.

‘‘The Kiwi foils and wing combine to generate 7-10% more speed around the race course over the American boat,’’ Cayard said.

‘‘Do the Americans know what to do exactly to improve, and can they get it done in five days?’’